Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Audio Note E/SPe Speakers by GKwei

Model:	E/SPe
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$4450
Description:	2 way reear ported speaker
Manufacturer URL:	Audio Note
Manufacturer URL:	Audio Note

Review by GKwei ( A ) on October 18, 2002 at 22:06:16
IP Address: 66.87.84.134

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for the E/SPe

After reading the wonderful review of the model E/Lâ€™s by Dave Cope in Audio Asylum (February 5, 2002), I became interested in Audio Note speakers and had a chance to audition the model E/SECâ€™s (their top model) at JC Audioâ€™s showroom in the Bay Area (of California). The Audio Note Model E encompasses a wide range of models. Some of the less expensive models also came with a wood grain vinyl finish over chip board, as was the case for the E/Lâ€™s reviewed earlier. The more expensive models include the use of silver wiring, improved drivers (silver voice coils and, for the bass driver on the SEC model, Alnico magnets), and better quality crossover parts (Black Gate capacitors and silver inductors).
I bought the SPe model (which is a descendant of the earlier SP and SPx models and now the second least expensive) with its silver wiring and wood-veneered plywood cabinet because it was priced at a point where the speakers included many of the essential features and where further improvements become much more expensive. The wood veneered plywood cabinets were important because the cabinet resonance and the relatively small amount of damping material inside allows the cabinets to play a much more active role in which it functions as a low frequency driver to reinforce the bass.
When I first unpacked the speakers, I placed them on their stands about 8â€™ apart and about 1â€™ from the rear wall. I immediately noticed that, at 94 dB/watt/m, they played considerably louder than the speakers they replaced (which were rated at 95 dB/watt/m). Even in my large room, they played loudly enough that I did not have to push my 1.5 watt/channel amplifier beyond its limits, even for symphonic music. However, the treble was a bit strident and the bass was a little tubby. The rear port on these speakers were designed so that the speakers could be placed close to the wall, in fact it is recommended for a fuller bass, but my walls are made of plywood and probably coupled too strongly. I then moved the speakers away from the wall, toed them in slightly to avoid detrimental rear reflections, and put spikes in the bases (but no lead shot or sand in the bases and no Blue-Tack between speaker and stand). The bass improved immediately. After playing around with speaker placement for a week or so, I completed the installation by filling the stands with about 75 lbs of lead shot and glueing the speakers to the stands with four pea-sized balls of Blue Tack. By this time, the treble had also improved greatly.
Some of you may be concerned about the amount of output in the bass registers, especially when you see the size of the woofers. Surprisingly, for some reason - and I think it must be the design of the large front baffle and the active role of the cabinets - the bass is not wanting at all. In fact, the response is even from bottom to top and is more "full-range" than most of the speakers I have owned.
I have now listened to these speakers for over 100 hrs and they are really sounding great! The overwhelming impression is the life that they impart to the music being played - the effect is very much like the effect that a good SET amplifier has as well. As part of this, there is much greater musical clarity - I can hear the different parts much better and they seem to blend together more coherently. Of course, this was also described more eloquently in Dave Cope's review where he said that Bartok's complex Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta suddenly seemed to make much more sense. When I now listen to a big showpiece like the fourth movement of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony [the Charles Munch (BSO) recording], the contrasts between the different instruments sounds the way they do in Symphony Hall (I was lucky enough to attend the concert that led to the recording several days later) - ranging from the tremendous force of the large pipe organ to the delicate timbral interplay of the wind instruments. The speakers sound equally well - and musical and clear - with solo and smaller ensemble pieces as in the piano playing of Ivan Moravec in the Beethoven sonatas or Lara St. John's playing of the Bach Chaconne or Salvatore Accardo and friends' playing of the Rossini double bass quartets. I have also enjoyed music played by small jazz/vocal groups like Jacintha in her latest recording (talk of voices or reproduction of voices!), or Louis and Ella in their rendition of popular songs, or Art Tatum playing with Ben Webster.
What would I do differently? If it weren't for the fact that I like the 45 tube so much, I would probably want a slightly bigger amp - perhaps a parallel single ended 45? In the meantime, just to be safe, I am building a copy of Steve Berger's "Bronze 50" right now (this will give me about 6 watts/ch) and have plans to build Shishido-san's 808SE (10 watts/ch). As far as speakers go, perhaps some silver voice coils, Black Gates, and silver inductors would be nice. Maybe even a couple of Alnico magnets for their better hysteretic behavior. Audio Note AN/SEC's anyone?
Seriously, these speakers have made almost as big a change in my system as my other "Big 3" improvements made in the last three years:
(1) Switching from solid state to tubes,
(2) Use of good quality interconnects, speaker cables and power cords, and
(3) Returning to the playing of records.
Had I not made a number of improvements in my speakers along the way, the change to the Audio Notes may have been much more pronounced. Even so, the AN/SPe's have been quite a revelation.
I must say that my friends and I have really enjoyed listening to music as played through these speakers and find that I am now listening much more to my audio system. They seem to be designed very much in the same spirit as the design of the SET amplifiers that they sound so wonderful with: simple and straightforward - with few parts. This approach must be a much more difficult way to design speakers and amplifiers - because each choice that is made becomes all the more critical and because the designer has much less leeway in adding more and more parts to correct errors that each previous addition introduces - but the net result is a much more direct, lively, emotional and musical presentation. I believe that these wonderful speakers are known and appreciated by far fewer people than they deserve, just like the SET amplifiers were some years ago. Hopefully, the appreciation for these speakers will change as more people have a chance to listen to them.
I would strongly urge those in search of a new pair of speakers to give these speakers a serious audition!

Product Weakness: Unless you are lucky, it might be difficult to find a dealer where these can be auditioned [although the state I live in (California) is lucky to have five dealers].
Product Strengths: These speakers are musical, dynamic, and easy to drive. They are perfect in low-powered single-ended tube-amplified systems (they may very well work well with higher powered solid state systems as well, but this reviewer has no way of trying them this way - nor would he want to).

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	45 stereo amplifier based on Gordon Rankinâ€™s â€œBugleâ€; Cunningham CX345 tubes; Magnequest iron; Cerafine and Black Gate caps; Shinko tantalum, Allen Bradley, and Mills resistors; Audio Note silver signal caps.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Herron VTSP-1 and VTPH-1
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Audiomeca Keops; Immedia RPM-1 TT and arm; Lyra Helikon
Speakers:	Audio Note AN-E/SPe
Cables/Interconnects:	Nirvana, Acoustic Zen Satori shotgun biwire; Virtual Dynamics power cords
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Popular and Jazz
Room Size (LxWxH):	36' x 24' x 10'
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Unless you are lucky, it might be difficult to find a dealer where these can be auditioned [although the state I live in (California) is lucky to have five dealers].
Product Strengths:	These speakers are musical, dynamic, and easy to drive. They are perfect in low-powered single-ended tube-amplified systems (they may very well work well with higher powered solid state systems as well, but this reviewer has no way of trying them this way - nor would he want to).